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Remembering Louis Sullivan

The skyscraper king and his forgotten jewel boxes

The great architect Louis Sullivan is commonly known as the “father of American skyscrapers.” But some of his best works are his “Jewel Boxes”— the small-town Midwest bank buildings he designed amid the idealistic burst of the Progressive era. You can still see many of them for yourself, as I did.

Patrick D. Hazard

Feb 08, 2011 Essays 4 minute read

When it's really cold, you get chummy with anything that moves.

Discovering myself in Lapland

Pass the reindeer steak, or: Six days that changed my life

When winter comes, some Philadelphians head for Florida. I headed instead for Finland and the Arctic Circle. The price was right— and in any case I think I got the better deal.

Thom Nickels

Feb 06, 2011 Essays 9 minute read

Even then, Ginsberg (above, with flower) claimed his place in history.

Underground newspapers: The first blogs

Those '70s underground papers: Does this story sound familiar?

When I worked for underground papers in the '70s, we counter-culture journalists didn't seem to know what we were doing. Yet it's hard to imagine journalism today without the innovations pioneered by our scruffy band of radicals.

Bob Ingram

Feb 06, 2011 Essays 8 minute read

What did Charles Bronson and Gabrielle Giffords have in common?

What Obama's Tucson speech overlooked

And the lesson of Tucson isâ€” what, exactly?

President Obama to the contrary, Americans aren't being killed in random bunches because politicians aren't more polite. They're being killed because Americans refuse to regulate guns.

Robert Zaller

Jan 22, 2011 Essays 5 minute read

Lynne Abraham (above) asked me to lunch.

An open letter to Mayor Nutter

Another dead baby, and a way out

As a family therapist, I know that some children in a city as complex as Philadelphia will suffer illness and poor care, and some will die as a result. But Lynne Abraham, as district attorney, at least tried to break the cycle of neglect, abuse and violence. We need more of that mixture of imagination and concern.

SaraKay Smullens

Jan 22, 2011 Essays 4 minute read

Rendell's casino addiction

Tantrums speak louder than words

Is there any hope for the poor and ignorant who seem incurably addicted to casinos? Better ask: Is there hope for a governor who seems incurably addicted to casinos?

Robert Zaller

Jan 15, 2011 Essays 2 minute read

Loughner in high school: Irreparable guilt by association.

Tucson's other victims

Another tragedy in Tucson

Last week's mass murder spree in Tucson was a catastrophe for the victims, their families and friends and, in the case of two public servants, for the nation. But the stiffest psychological price of all may be paid by the killer's family.

John L. Erlich

Jan 15, 2011 Essays 2 minute read

View from the back of a Johannesburg taxi: How do we get to Diepkloof?

Public transit, Johannesburg-style

We're all in this together, or: Public transit from the bottom up

Unhappy with American mass transit? Try getting around in South Africa, as I did recently. Johannesburg's 15-seat taxi vans are a throwback to the stagecoaches of America's Old West, and more disorganized. There are no websites, no signs, and no officious authority figures. Yet for all the chaos and uncertainty, commuters and drivers alike manage to get from one place to another. And there's no extra charge for the priceless daily adventure.